Leading the Church into What’s Next: Carey Nieuwhof at SCD 2026
SCD 2026 is coming to Columbus, Ohio, August 2-5, and people from across the church are invited to gather for a powerful time of worship, learning, connection, and Spirit-led imagination! Under the theme “Rise Up: Love, Serve, Lead,” SCD 2026 will bring together innovators, discipleship practitioners, and ministry teams who are committed to the future of the church and the mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
This gathering is an opportunity to discern what God is doing now, to learn from one another, and to rise together into the faithful, courageous, and hopeful church we are becoming.
One of the featured plenary speakers at SCD 2026 is Carey Nieuwhof, a widely respected voice in church leadership, organizational change, and ministry innovation. Carey is a former lawyer, founding pastor of Connexus Church, bestselling author, speaker, podcaster, and the founder of The Art of Leadership Academy. Through his writing, podcasting, speaking, and leadership resources, Carey has helped thousands of pastors and ministry leaders grow in clarity, health, effectiveness, and mission. His work focuses on helping leaders navigate change, lead with courage, develop sustainable rhythms, and build churches and organizations that thrive in a rapidly shifting world.
At SCD 2026, Carey will lead two plenary sessions designed to help leaders engage some of the most urgent questions facing the church today.
His first plenary, “Scaling Your Next Fruitfulness Barrier,” will address a reality every growing church eventually faces: the strategies that once worked no longer always produce the same results. Churches often reach predictable barriers at key stages of growth, and moving forward requires more than simply working harder. It requires new leadership capacity, healthier systems, strategic staffing, and the courage to make faithful changes for the sake of greater fruitfulness.
In this session, Carey will help leaders identify the barriers that limit growth and explore the shifts needed to move into the next season of ministry. Drawing on current church trends and practical ministry insights, he will offer guidance for churches of all sizes seeking to grow in ways that strengthen ministry, deepen discipleship, and expand missional impact.
Carey’s second plenary, “The Future of the Church in the Age of AI,” will explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world around us and the context for ministry. AI is an issue for the church to consider now because it is already influencing work, relationships, communication, trust, mental health, integrity, and how people experience community.
This session will invite church leaders to think deeply and faithfully about the challenges and opportunities ahead. Carey will examine broader societal shifts related to AI, including job loss, mental health struggles, deception, questions of integrity, and artificial intimacy. Leaders will be challenged to consider how the church can become more deeply human, more grounded in authentic community, and more deeply faithful to the gospel for this changing moment.
Together, these two plenary sessions will help SCD 2026 participants lead with wisdom, courage, and hope as they rise up together to shape the church we are becoming.
Be sure to check out Carey’s new book, AI and the Future Church, releasing September 15, 2026!
For questions or additional information, please contact Isaiah Park at [email protected].
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